Writing a compelling story

Question 1

What is storytelling important?

Answer 1

Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world. Robert McKee - Why does this information matter? - What happens if this information comes true?

Question 2

The Art of Storytelling - What are the 2 cardinal rules of storytelling? Think of movies.

Answer 2

1st Rule - Every great story has information and emotion. 2nd Rule - Dynamics of Performance: Every great performance is an up and down of giving and taking away, e.g., humour, substance, as this keeps the audience engaged and wondering what is going to happen next. - Each chapter should be about 10 to 15 minutes, build it up to a wow moment and take it down again

Question 3

What makes a good chapter (act)?

Answer 3

“The Challenger Sale” Matthew Dixon - Start the chapter with a business challenge (pain drives the chapter, not a function or feature) - The pain needs to be translated into the theme of that chapter, each chapter has to have its own feel and be different from other chapters (think of the circus, the clowns come out, then the animals, then the trapeze artists). Establish the pain before going to a feature to solve it (make the customer feel like they need a solution or antidote to the problem). Every chapter should conclude in an emotional, relevant, wow-moment (conclude chapter with value statement paired with emotion).

Question 4

Getting from challenges to chapters to stories.

Answer 4

1) Write down 3 challenges. 2) Take each challenge and translate it into a story. For example, we are constantly offline is not a story. Every time I travel via plane I am offline is a story. (humorous, tension or intriguing) 3) Conclude each story with a wow moment (emotion) and value statement (information)

Question 5

Demo Agenda or Outline

What should this look like? How should it be constructed?

Answer 5

Question 6

SLIDES

What kind of slides should you use in a demo?

Answer 6

• Do not put a bunch of information on your slides, that is not what a demo is

Use slides for:

1) Mimicking the structure of your story
2) Communicate emotions (pictures of relief, confusion, etc.)
3) Tell - Show - Tell

Question 7

What is a Cheat Sheet?

Answer 7

1) Pre-demo checklist

(what tabs to open, cache, etc.)

2) Colour code cheat sheet
a) Clicking anchors
b) Value statements (red)
c) Story elements (anecdotes, jokes, etc.) (blue)
3) Maximum 2 pages

Question 8

Rehearsal

Answer 8

• Customers will judge your performance as much as your product (don’t spend 5 hrs on the demo environment and 5 minutes on you), you cannot separate the message from the messenger
• Rehearsal should be about 20% of your demo prep, not just a quick click-through
• Record yourself, listen and get feedback
• Fine-tune your demo through rehearsals

Question 9

What is Plan B for your demo if something goes wrong?

Answer 9

• Bring screen shots, use DemoMate, use various demo routes